2 1/2 yr old bull drags rear hooves as he walks

[greybeard]

I went to a local farm today that is selling out their cattle and looked at a 2 1/2 yr old bull and liked him except he drags the tips of both his rear hooves every step he takes, his left much more than the right. His rear hooves do seem to set down in the same place the front hooves just vacated, and he does NOT drag the rear hooves if he is walking up a rise in the ground--uphill. He just does it on level ground or going downhill. He doesn't appear to be in any pain and he does not swing his hooves out to the side as he walks. According to the owner, he bred every female that came in heat late last fall and he did pass a trich test and the paperwork showed he did well on a performance test 6 months ago.
The hoof dragging is the only thing keeping me from buying him. What's the most likely cause and how concerned should I be about those rear hooves?

 

[Bigfoot]

I've seen cows do that, and never knew why. If a horse was doing it, I'd suspect a pinched nerve. Not practical to treat a bull on a hunch.

 

[Muddy]

Few of our cows do that too but they're healthy and fat.

 

[Aaron]

Weak stifles. Do not buy.

 

[greybeard]

I've seen cows do that, and never knew why. If a horse was doing it, I'd suspect a pinched nerve. Not practical to treat a bull on a hunch.

Is that what they call stringhalt in horses? (I'm not a horse person)
From the vids I've seen with horses and stringhalt, the bull acts nothing similar to how the horses walked.

Aaron, thanks--that is what some other online research revealed, as well as some of the older CT threads on the same subject tho the CT responses varied as to whether is was always a bad thing or not....but I'm going to pass on this bull. He was priced to sell for sure, but a bull that can't service is just hamburger.

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=18054
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=58756

 

[Bigfoot]

Naw string halt is more like an exaggerated step, than a toe drag. Sometimes when a horse is out in its L vertebrae they will toe drag. I'd probably pass on the bull to. Worlds full of Bulls. No need in taking a chance on one.